Rebuttal
to John Piper's defense of the term "Christian hedonism"from his books "Desiring God" and "Future Grace"by Deception In The Church

The following is a summary of John Piper's use of the term "Christian
hedonism". I will rebut each item as they appear in his official
defense of the term "Christian hedonism".
This is a summary of John Piper's defense of the term "Christian
hedonism" from his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist:

(1) The term "hedonism" means "a living for pleasure".
If the chief end of man is to enjoy God forever, then we should live our
lives for pleasure -- the pleasure of knowing God.

John Piper cannot rewrite the English language. Here are the definitions
for the terms "Christian" and "hedonism" from the Merriam Webster Dictionary:

"CHRISTIAN: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus
Christ"

"HEDONISM: the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole
or chief good in life. The ethical theory that achieving one's own
happiness is the proper goal of all conduct."

Now, even with the worldly definition of "Christian" from a dictionary,
we can begin to see a problem. If a "Christian" by the narrow definition
given here is a person who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ, then
it follows that a "Christian" believes Jesus' teachings such as:

Mt 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come
after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Mt 23:25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they
are full of greed and self-indulgence.

By the very definition of "hedonism", and even by this narrow dictionary
definition of "Christian" we can see clearly that the term "Christian hedonism"
posited by John Piper is an oxymoron. The two cannot exist together,
for to obey Christ is to abandon hedonism, and to embrace hedonism is to
become a hypocrite like the Pharisees.

(2) The term does not refer to a single, pagan philosophy but
is a generic term that has been applied to a wide variety of philosophies
that elevate the pursuit of pleasure. For the Christian hedonist, it includes
the idea of pursuing the greatest pleasure, not in the short term, but
maximized over eternity.

Again, Piper has built his case on a false foundation. First,
the term "hedonism", though admitedly used to mean the general pursuit
of pleasure in the popular idiom, is still a term that is as intensely
self oriented as any term in existence. The pursuit of pleasure is
a pursuit that is, at its most basic, a pursuit of fleshly gratification
for the benefit of self. There is nothing more self-serving than
hedonism. Second, for a Christian to pursue the idea of an eternity
of self gratification is unthinkable by very definition. The reason
is that the two ideas, by definition, cancel each other out. If a
Christian is pursuing hedonism for the greatest pleasure maximized for
eternity, then that Christian will never spend eternity in a place where
he can gain such pleasure. This is because:

Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin is death. Self gratification, no matter in what form, is still
sin because its aim is not the love of God but the love of self. There
are many today who, in God's name, act as though they are worshiping God.
But their worship is, in the end, self-indulgent hedonism.

2Ti 3:4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God
2Pe 2:13 ... Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.
They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast
with you.

(3) Many wise, old Christians have chosen to describe the Christian
life in these terms. C. S. Lewis and Soren Kierkegaard are among them.

John Piper now uses Kierkegaard descriptions as a model for what a Christian
life should be. Kierkegaard though a Christian, lest some forget,
was also the father of modern existentialism. He emphasized the "subjective
nature of existence over objective nature." Rightly, then, he is
the father of the new post-modern thought of today that is so pervasive
in every aspect of life. "Luke, trust your feelings". "Your
truth may be different from my truth." Existentialism has also crept
into the church by way of the subjective experience gnostic revival movements
out of RHEMA, Toronto and Brownsville. If Kierkegaard is a "wise
old Christian" then his wisdom will be the ultimate downfall of the church.
True Christians serve an objective God and His infallible objective Word.

C.S. Lewis wrote on many subjects but certainly would never have used
a term like "Christian hedonism" in sermons such as "The Weight Of Glory".

(4) The term has a jolting effect. This is appropriate for
a philosophy that has a life changing effect on its adherents. Furthermore,
this philosophy can be extremely threatening to nominal adherents of Christianity,
since it focuses on the motives of the heart rather than superficial actions.

The term certainly jolted me. The question that immediately came
tumbling our of my mind was this: "Why do Christian authors feel the need
to jolt people all the time?" The answer is: it sells more books!
Sometimes a jolt can be good, as in giving a kick to a football.
Sometimes a jolt can be bad, such as accidentally touching live 220 volt
wires. Attempting to coin a term that is an oxymoron does more harm
than good. The term "Christian hedonism" can be misunderstood in
so many ways, even after reading John Piper's books. A good example
is a quote from a misguided individual on the Internet who read "Desiring
God".

"As I live this hedonistic lifestyle, myself a little Christ, I become
more aware of the Ultimate Hedonist, and his full nature. And I dig it,
man! My wish is for every Christian to realize his/her hedonistic nature,
and for every hedonist to find Christ." (http://www.jesusfreak.com/vox/3/prose/hedonist.htm)

Not only can the term be threatening to nominal Christians, it can and
is threatening to ALL Christians and non-believers. Hedonism is never
something that should be the pursuit of Christians. Perhaps Christians
should ask themselves this question: "Do I want my pleasure now or later?"
The reason is that our worship of God is not worship at all unless it is,
to the best of our ability and for the right motives guided by the Holy
Spirit, a selfless act. Why is this? Because our real reason
to worship God is for HIS PLEASURE. For our part, we worship God
for the following reasons:

Isa 46:4 Even to your old age and grey hairs I am he, I
am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry
you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah hits a home run again! God deserves our worship because
He made us, He sustains us, and He rescued us. What other reason
do we need to worship God than the fact that HE DID IT ALL? Want
a New Testament reference?

Col. 1:15-20 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or
rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is
before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is
the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn
from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, and through
him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Isn't the cross enough to bring us into unselfish worship of God?
Why do we need gimmicks and jolting catch phrases? Why do we need
the promise of some kind of cosmic bargain made by a god who says: "You
give me worship and, in return, I guarantee pleasure for you right now!"

(5) Although the word definitely has a pagan connotation in
most circumstances, Scripture itself uses words with normally negative
connotations to teach positive truth. For instance, Jesus compared himself
to a thief in the night. He also commended the shrewdness of an unrighteous
steward. Surely, a word that is in essence quite neutral can be used to
express the truth that we should find our highest delight in God!

The first mistake in the above paragraph is to say that the word "hedonism"
is a neutral word. A neutral word would be a word devoid of any definable
meaning. Without looking in the dictionary, any educated person will
immediately tell you what they think the meaning of the word "hedonism"
means. Therefore, the word has meaning and the meaning is all about
self pleasure. The second mistake is to compare Jesus' use of the
phrases "thief in the night" and "unrighteous steward" to the new term
Piper is trying to coin "Christian hedonism". Jesus was not trying
to coin a new word or add a new phrase to the language of His day.
He was using common terms to teach concepts via parables. John Piper,
on the other hand, is trying to redefine a term so as to use it as shock
treatment, and, as luck would have it, sell more books. Jesus never
sold books. Jesus may have used shocking phrases and words, but they
were always used with their definitions still intact.

(6) Finally, the word "Christian" as a modifier of the term
"hedonism" signals loud and clear that this is no ordinary hedonism. It
is controlled and defined by the Christian revelation, the Bible. Only
by submitting ourselves to the authority of Scripture can we know what
is everlastingly most pleasing.

How can a "Christian hedonist" say he is "controlled" by the Bible when
the act of hedonism is damned by it?

Finally, the reason why a true Christian (not "hedonist" this time)
submits themselves "to the authority of Scripture" is not so they can know
what is everlastingly pleasing, unless they are talking about pleasing
God. One wise man when asked the question "What is the meaning of
life?" said: "To please God." This is our aim. We do not aim
to please ourselves but to please God. Our reward is coming someday
and then we can share the glory with Christ. But only if we have
been faithful and obedient now. That obedience does involve a joy
and "peace that passes all understanding" in serving others before ourselves,
loving others as we love ourselves. This is a lifelong work that
the Holy Spirit works in us. True Christians don't have time to waste
on hedonism of any kind.